Homebuilders on a bus trip for help

Triangle homebuilders are traveling by bus to Washington today to press congressional leaders on efforts aimed at reviving the struggling housing market.

Eighty-six members of the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County plan to meet with members of the state congressional delegation. They want the federal government to support proposals that would give big tax credits to home buyers and further reduce mortgage rates.

Frozen lenders and jittery consumers are punishing homebuilders, contractors and suppliers, who prospered in an era of easy lending. Monthly home sales in the Triangle hit an eight-year low in November. And new home permits hit a decade low in the third quarter.

More than a dozen companies tied to the Triangle real estate market have filed for bankruptcy in the past year.